How do most of you apply your framer.js projects to production? Is it possible to use any of the resulting javascript code from a prototype in production-code? I don't want to create something amazing in framer.js, if I can't even re-create unless I use third-party libraries like Greensock or jqueryui. Any workflow tips would be much appreciated!

17 Comments

Sanyam Jain

Any Updates on this ?Kushagra Gour: What do u say ? Can I use the framer/any other tool to create an interaction which I can directly use on my website ?

Otis Virginie

Any update on using framer animations directly in production? I'm reviewing framer, while awesome it makes no sense to duplicate. As I'm a dev it would be easier to go straight to javascript

I find it quite bizarre that framer has evolved to be such a great tool, but has not been developed with a direct route to production in mind. By this I mean providing hooks for bespoke javascript interaction and access to actual html elements via ids. It would turbo-charge development and still satisfy designers.

Milan Chotai

I haven't used Framer before - probably will figure it out myself once playing with it but wanted to ask how people are using it in terms of workflows - ie: framer > commit to git repo > developers start work on filling in event code while designers can continue to tweak designs and commit to same repo? Look for a flow like this instead of graphical mocks hot spotted together (ie: invision)

Daniel Halldorsson

interested to hear some responses to this, duplication of work is the major thing stopping me from jumping in to framer at this point

Braden Hamm

It would be nice to be able to hand something off that's partly finished for the real developers on my team.

Stephen Crowley

We are building a brand new product so our needs are many. Right now I use Axure to convey the flow of the application, I tried doing this with framerjs (which is possible but it starts to get wonky when many assets start piling up). FramerJS has been brilliant in exploring and conveying the microinteractions. It's allowed me to ideate fast and share with the rest of the team. It's shown possibilities and how we can leverage the use of animations to enhance the UX. For us, it wasn't a question of reusing code because we were confident early on that we could recreate framerjs animations, draggle elements etc with other libraries- it's about intent and adding value. You can go crazy with cool and flashy animations- but you risk reaching a point where the "cuteness" could wear off quickly and it becomes an annoyance. So again, Axure for flow and FramerJS and Sketch to add a higher level of fidelity. Devs on my team started with the flow, and then groom by using my framer projects as a guide.

FYI- the devs are part of the process all the way through. We are in this Lean/agile process- they aren't surprised by the result because they know the problem and along the way I'm sharing the solutions through design. We also get feedback from customers almost every two weeks after a sprint, so we need to move fast. Showing early also helps my teammates investigate how the design can be executed where it makes sense for our product and what tools and libraries they can leverage.

Rob Jones

For native iOS apps, you won't be able to use any code directly. If your prototype has some novel algorithms in it, the ideas in those algorithms should be easy to port to Swift (and to a lesser degree Obj-C). If your target is an HTML app, you might be able to re-use some of your javascript, but any dependancies on Framer will most likely need to be replaced.

At its core Framer is for *rapid* prototyping of iOS apps, not for any kind of production. I can see the temptation to use it to produce code for HTML mobile apps, but I imagine this will be painful.

David Caputo

I agree with the above points. I never try to do more than one or two transitions or animations with framer. It's not for building full apps. Everything I have done with framer my devs have been able to recreate fairly easily in obj-c

Tim Roth

Would like to know as well. I am facing the same Problem...

Koen Bok

For web I would use Velocity.js and for iOS POP.

I imagine integration with these will become better over time, and also maybe Framer being able to output web production code.

Daniel Halldorsson

i end up doing design/ux and front end dev at my company, so for me i think im probably better leveraging my flash skills for mock ups than spending too much time on framer. something about coding in JS twice isn't sitting right.

Naveen Kumar

My understanding is that since the coffeescript we type in framer is being compiled into js anyways, there should be a way to use that js code. Like, I just used "Brackets" on my PC to preview framer code since I don't have a mac (so no Framer studio), and I see a .js file that compiles from the coffeescript file in real time.

Ikalangita Saved

So you have to code just for prototyping and re-code for production ? bankfire ?

Ikalangita Saved

with fusetool i can prototype with great effects and build ipa or apk for production, why wasting time with framerjs?